Hearst + Fox = YouTube Killer?

Last month Hearst announced their plans for 12 new online video channels to partner with their magazine websites. Now they are partnering with Fox Television Studios for their CosmoGirl and Popular Mechanics video channels, according to MediaPost.

The current plans entail short (<3 minute) semiweekly serial webisodes for each magazine website. MediaPost predicts that this will put them on equal footing with such enterprises as Time Magazine, which recently started its own in house online video production.

Is it a YouTube killer? Far from it. While the webisodes will feature a little bit of user-generated content (visitors can contribute plot ideas), Hearst’s proposal is more analogous to television than YouTubeâ€”passive entertainment rather than a community of users sharing funny, personal clips.

I find it particularly interesting that Hearst chose to partner with Fox. Their first announcement said they’d be using Maven Networks‘ Internet TV Platform for their video players. Among Maven’s other clients? Fox. Hm…